The present invention relates generally to armament apparatus for aircraft, and more particularly relates to the external support plank mounting of weaponry, such as machine guns, at the cabin area of aircraft such as helicopters.
The external mounting on aircraft of weaponry such as machine guns, rocket launchers and the like, particularly in retrofit applications, has heretofore carried with it a variety of structural, operational and safety limitations and disadvantages. As but one example, the external mounting of machine guns on a helicopter has previously entailed securing an outwardly projecting metal support tube to the helicopter and then mounting the gun on the tube. While this seems to be a fairly straightforward approach, unavoidable limberness in the support tube often led to firing inaccuracies in the mounted gun due to wobbling of its firing axis relative to the aircraft.
To a great extent these problems have been eliminated by using the honeycombed metal support plank structure illustrated and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,024,138 to Sanderson et al. This support plank structure is transversely insertable through the cabin portion of the aircraft in a manner such that a longitudinally central portion of the support plank is disposed within the cabin area, and outer end portions of the plank project outwardly from opposite sides of the body of the aircraft. The central plank portion within the cabin area is removably anchored to the aircraft (which may be a helicopter or a fixed wing aircraft) and outer tip portions of the plank are vertically pivotable, along plank structure hinge lines, between fully extended positions and upwardly and inwardly folded transport or storage positions.
At the outer ends of these foldable tip portions are downwardly projecting outboard weaponry mounting structures which are operative to removably support a pair of multiple tube rocket launchers at their bottom ends. Mounted on the undersides of the outwardly projecting plank end portions, inwardly of the foldable plank tips, are a pair of inboard support structures operative to removably support a pair of machine guns.
While the support plank-based aircraft armament system illustrated and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,024,138 has proven to be structurally superior to metal tube-type weaponry support systems, use of the system has demonstrated a need in some instances to provide it with additional weaponry mounting and operation features and improvements.
For example, in some applications it would be desirable to temporarily remove the outer plank tip portions (and any armament which may be secured thereto) to reduce the overall armament weight, while at the same time mounting the machine guns further away from the opposite sides of the aircraft in order to reduce the laterally directed gun blast pressure forces exerted on the aircraft body. However, since the location of each inboard mounting structure is fixed, and the outboard mounting structures removed, this inboard weaponry repositioning is not feasible with the described plank structure and the associated mounting structures currently associated therewith.
When the inboard mounted weaponry comprises a pair of .50 caliber machine guns, the above-mentioned gun blast pressure forces against the sides of the aircraft are particularly acute. Additionally, in some applications the muzzle flashes from the guns tend to interfere with the aircraft crew's night vision equipment when the guns are mounted on the plank using existing gun pod support apparatus. It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide improved support plank-based armament apparatus which eliminates or at least substantially reduces these limitations and problems.